Desire to read

Elena was paging through a book last night. She got a little upset, got my attention ("Look at me!"), and stated very deliberately and forcefully, "I can't read!"

I blinked a few times.

Staring into my eyes, again she says with even a little greater desire to communicate, "I.. can't.. read." It was bothering her this time.

I told her that we can learn to read.

She pointed to her book. "O. Another O. Two O's!"

Wow. She knew what she was talking about.

We'll have to take advantage of this while we can.

-- Erich

To clarify, she was actually saying the short vowel /0/ sound, not the letter name.

-Serena

Mexico with Mercy

Mercy took the initiative to get herself a passport so we could take her to Mexico. She got to try boogie boarding for the first time and enjoyed swimming in the ocean. Elena loved playing in the sand, running from waves, collecting shells, and other sorts of basic beachy activities. We also ate LOTS of mangoes, sometimes the mango-on-a-stick on the beach but more often mangoes at home from the local fruteria. Elena loves the mangoes and can easily polish off a whole one by herself.

I got to take a private, two-day course in Spanish which I found very useful. I practiced talking in Spanish about various issues in Psychology (sleep stages, parts of the brain, etc.), as well as getting some solid instruction on when and how to use the subjunctive. I'm excited for my next week-long immersion course in August. My hope is to someday be able to advertise myself as a Spanish-speaking, ASL-capable therapist. And then to live in an area where I can use both ASL and Spanish regularly... Well, that would be fantastic.

California with Mercy

One thing I love about Mercy is that she does not require fancy equipment to be entertained. She got great enjoyment out of swimming in the pool with Elena, picking oranges off of the tree and eating them (or making fresh orange juice!), and if there was ever a lull, she was perfectly content to read one of her books. Plus, she helped a ton with mundane moving tasks, which we greatly appreciated.

The Western Slope

We have moved from Colorado to California. We did so by driving a moving truck and our car separately, and we brought our dear friend Mercy with us. She's 13 years old and helped us with Elena on the drive and for a while after in California. On our way to California, we stopped at our friend Alexandra's farm on the western slope of Colorado.

Pictures:
Alexandra and Mercy on one of our walks on the farm; Mercy, with Elena enjoying running down the hill.

Breckenridge

In May, we went to Breckenridge with our friends the Kuhlmans. It was a wonderfully relaxing trip during which we learned to play Mahjong with the traditional Chinese rules. Elena was rather entertained by the Kuhlmans' then-4mo daughter, Ella. She displayed an interesting anti-jealousy: she would become upset if I were holding Ella and went to give her back to her mom, and she frequently asked me to nurse the baby.

The picture is Elena, on one of our many walks into town.

Imaginative play

Lately, Elena has been very into imaginative play with invisible objects (as opposed to imagining that her stuffed bear needs to be fed or whatnot). She will reach her hand into something (her pocket, a bag, etc.) and pull out an invisible Something. She hands it to me (or whoever) and says, "Want it?"
"Sure! What is it?"
Her answers have ranged from various foods (carrots, asparagus, ice cream... after which she'll ask, "Like it? Yummy? Very tasty?") to "Ladybug!" to, lately, "Present! Open it!"
Often, when I open the present, it's a book. She asks me to read it and I make up a story or imagine some pictures and talk about them. Just this morning, I opened her present and asked her what it was. She said, "Bible! Read it?"

Nothing like a two-year-old to test your scripture memorization.

New digs

We've arrived in California. I would like to say that we've "moved in," but I won't really feel that way until all the boxes are gone. Erich's working full time, so that leaves Elena and me to do the unpacking. Fortunately, there's a fully functioning household upstairs, so we have many conveniences (for example, we could cook even when our kitchen wasn't set up).

We've decided to have the smaller bedroom be "Elena's room," combining the office with the "adult" bedroom. As Elena grows, it gets harder and harder to all share a bed. We have a mattress on the floor next to our bed, and Elena has been perfectly contented to sleep there rather than on the big bed with us. Lately, though, since Erich's still been working when Elena goes to bed, I've been putting her down on the bunk bed. Last night, she slept through the night there (in fact, she's still asleep right now...). I don't mind having her sleep on the floor in our room (it's not like she snores, so as long as she's not kicking, it's no imposition), but it's nice to be able to put her to bed in the other room. I like the flexibility.

I'm also hoping that Elena will learn to swim while we're here. She loves being in the water, but doesn't like being held--she wants to stand or sit, period. Ojalá que ella aprenda nadar, poco a poco. And as I write this, I'm watching a rabbit hop around the pool area, which is an odd juxtaposition in my mind.